Shinichiro Watanabe
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese anime
filmmaker, screenwriter
, and producer. He is known for directing the popular anime
series Cowboy Bebop
and Samurai Champloo
.
Watanabe is known for blending together multiple genres in his anime creations. In Cowboy Bebop, for example, Watanabe mixes classic cowboy western with 1940s/1950s New York City
film noir
, Jazz
music and Hong Kong
action movies, and sets the entire series in space
. In his later work, Samurai Champloo, Watanabe mixes the cultures of Okinawa, hip-hop
, modern-day Japan
, and chanbara.
, Watanabe supervised the episode direction and storyboards of numerous Sunrise anime, and soon made his directorial debut as co-director of the well-received Macross
update, Macross Plus
. His next effort, and first full directorial venture, was the 1998 television series Cowboy Bebop
. It was followed by the 2001 film, Knockin' on Heaven's Door. Then, in 2003, Watanabe directed his first American-produced anime, the short films Kid's Story and A Detective Story, both part of The Animatrix
, an anthology of animated shorts of back stories from The Matrix
. His next directorial effort was the anime television series Samurai Champloo
which began broadcasting on Fuji TV
in Japan on May 19, 2004.
He then directed a short film called Baby Blue which was released on July 7, 2007 as a segment of the anthology film
Genius Party
. In recent years, he has been active as a creative music producer, overseeing the 2004 film Mind Game
and 2008's Michiko to Hatchin
, and also supervising the storyboards for episode 12 of Tetsuwan Birdy: Decode. He will be working as an associate producer on the upcoming live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, alongside fellow Sunrise staff members Kenji Uchida
and Keiko Nobumoto
.
of his works and believes that music is the universal language. Cowboy Bebop
is heavily influenced by American culture, especially the jazz movements of the 1940s, hence the title "bebop
". This style is blended with a score by the prolific composer Yoko Kanno
featuring jazz
, blues
, and funk
music. In Samurai Champloo
, an Edo
period piece
, the anachronistic soundtrack draws heavily from hip-hop music, and is full of melodic beats with record scratches
.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
filmmaker, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, and producer. He is known for directing the popular anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop
is a critically acclaimed and award-winning 1998 Japanese anime series directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, written by Keiko Nobumoto, and produced by Sunrise. Its 26 episodes comprise a complete storyline: set in 2071, the series follows the adventures, misadventures and tragedies of five bounty...
and Samurai Champloo
Samurai Champloo
is a Japanese anime series created and directed by Shinichirō Watanabe. It was broadcast in Japan from May 20, 2004 through March 19, 2005 on Fuji TV. Samurai Champloo has earned Watanabe a renowned title in the anime and Japanese television communities...
.
Watanabe is known for blending together multiple genres in his anime creations. In Cowboy Bebop, for example, Watanabe mixes classic cowboy western with 1940s/1950s New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
, Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
action movies, and sets the entire series in space
Space western
Space Western is a subgenre of science fiction, primarily grounded in film and television programming, that transposes themes of American Western books and film to a backdrop of futuristic space frontiers; it is the complement of the science fiction Western, which transposes science fiction themes...
. In his later work, Samurai Champloo, Watanabe mixes the cultures of Okinawa, hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, modern-day Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and chanbara.
Career
After joining the Japanese animation studio SunriseSunrise (company)
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. Its former name was Nippon Sunrise, and prior to that, Sunrise Studios...
, Watanabe supervised the episode direction and storyboards of numerous Sunrise anime, and soon made his directorial debut as co-director of the well-received Macross
Macross
is a series of science fiction mecha anime, directed by Shōji Kawamori of Studio Nue in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth/Humanity after the year 1999. It consists of three TV series, four movies, six OVAs, one light novel and five manga series, all sponsored by Big West...
update, Macross Plus
Macross Plus
is a four-episode anime OVA and theatrical movie in the Macross series. It was the first sequel to the original Macross television series that took place in the official timeline...
. His next effort, and first full directorial venture, was the 1998 television series Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop
is a critically acclaimed and award-winning 1998 Japanese anime series directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, written by Keiko Nobumoto, and produced by Sunrise. Its 26 episodes comprise a complete storyline: set in 2071, the series follows the adventures, misadventures and tragedies of five bounty...
. It was followed by the 2001 film, Knockin' on Heaven's Door. Then, in 2003, Watanabe directed his first American-produced anime, the short films Kid's Story and A Detective Story, both part of The Animatrix
The Animatrix
is a 2003 direct-to-video anthology film based on The Matrix trilogy. The film is a compilation of nine animated short films.-Production:Development of the Animatrix project began when the film series' writers and directors, the Wachowski brothers, were in Japan promoting the first Matrix film...
, an anthology of animated shorts of back stories from The Matrix
The Matrix series
The Matrix is a science fiction action franchise created by Andy and Larry Wachowski and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The series began with the 1999 film The Matrix and later spawned two sequels; The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both released in 2003, thus forming a trilogy...
. His next directorial effort was the anime television series Samurai Champloo
Samurai Champloo
is a Japanese anime series created and directed by Shinichirō Watanabe. It was broadcast in Japan from May 20, 2004 through March 19, 2005 on Fuji TV. Samurai Champloo has earned Watanabe a renowned title in the anime and Japanese television communities...
which began broadcasting on Fuji TV
Fuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
in Japan on May 19, 2004.
He then directed a short film called Baby Blue which was released on July 7, 2007 as a segment of the anthology film
Anthology film
An anthology film is a feature film consisting of several different short films, often tied together by only a single theme, premise, or brief interlocking event . Sometimes each one is directed by a different director...
Genius Party
Genius Party
Genius Party is an anthology of short animated films from Studio 4°C released on July 7, 2007. The short films are Japanese anime.A sequel called Genius Party Beyond was released on February 15, 2008, and includes most of the films which were finished but not included in the original Genius...
. In recent years, he has been active as a creative music producer, overseeing the 2004 film Mind Game
Mind Game (film)
is a 2004 Japanese animated feature film based on Robin Nishi's Japanese comic of the same name. It was planned, produced and primarily animated by Studio 4°C and adapted and directed by Masaaki Yuasa, with chief animation direction and model sheets by Yūichirō Sueyoshi, art direction by Tōru...
and 2008's Michiko to Hatchin
Michiko to Hatchin
is a Japanese animated television series. The show is produced by studio Manglobe and directed by Sayo Yamamoto, her first directorial work. The two eponymous starring roles are portrayed by noted Japanese film actresses Yōko Maki and Suzuka Ohgo respectively...
, and also supervising the storyboards for episode 12 of Tetsuwan Birdy: Decode. He will be working as an associate producer on the upcoming live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, alongside fellow Sunrise staff members Kenji Uchida
Kenji Uchida
is a Japanese anime producer. He is noted anime studio Sunrise's president.Debuting in 1980, with Muteki Robo Trider G7, among Sunrise's first works in the 1980s, Uchida has gone on to produce numerous of Sunrise's works, such as various iterations of the Gundam universe and other Sunrise anime...
and Keiko Nobumoto
Keiko Nobumoto
is a Japanese screenwriter. She is best known for having written the screenplay for Cowboy Bebop and having created Wolf's Rain.-Filmography :*Wolf's Rain *Tokyo Godfathers...
.
TV productions
- ObatarianObatarianis a yonkoma manga series by Katsuhiko Hotta which was published by Takeshobo in Manga Life from 1988 through 1998. An anime series was adapted from the manga in 1990 by Sunrise, which aired on TV Asahi. The title Obatarian is a Japanese buzzword from 1988 meaning "Battalion of Middle-age Women"....
(1990; episode supervision) - Genki Bakuhatsu GanbarugerGenki Bakuhatsu Ganbarugeris a 47 episode animated shōnen mecha television series, and the second series produced for the Eldran franchise funded by Takara Tomy and produced by Sunrise...
(1992; episode supervision) - Cowboy BebopCowboy Bebopis a critically acclaimed and award-winning 1998 Japanese anime series directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, written by Keiko Nobumoto, and produced by Sunrise. Its 26 episodes comprise a complete storyline: set in 2071, the series follows the adventures, misadventures and tragedies of five bounty...
(1998; director) - Samurai ChamplooSamurai Champloois a Japanese anime series created and directed by Shinichirō Watanabe. It was broadcast in Japan from May 20, 2004 through March 19, 2005 on Fuji TV. Samurai Champloo has earned Watanabe a renowned title in the anime and Japanese television communities...
(2004; director) - Eureka SevenEureka SevenEureka Seven, known in Japan as , is a mecha anime TV series by Bones. Eureka Seven tells the story of Renton Thurston and the outlaw group Gekkostate, his relationship with the enigmatic mecha pilot Eureka, and the mystery of the Coralians....
(2005; supervision of third ending theme) - Tetsuwan Birdy DECODE (2008; storyboard supervision, episode 12)
- Michiko to HatchinMichiko to Hatchinis a Japanese animated television series. The show is produced by studio Manglobe and directed by Sayo Yamamoto, her first directorial work. The two eponymous starring roles are portrayed by noted Japanese film actresses Yōko Maki and Suzuka Ohgo respectively...
(2008; music producer) - Star Driver: Kagayaki no TakutoStar Driver: Kagayaki no Takutois a 2010 Japanese anime television series created and animated by Bones. The series is directed by Takuya Igarashi, with character designs by Yoshiyuki Ito and Hiroka and Misa Mizuya. The anime premiered on October 3, 2010, on MBS-TBS's prime Sunday 5pm timeslot. Aniplex of America premiered the...
(2010; storyboard & unit director, OP 1)
OVA
- Armor Hunter MellowlinkArmor Hunter Mellowlinkwas a twelve episode anime OVA spinoff of Armored Trooper Votoms. It takes place in the same universe as Votoms, but the two stories are entirely independent of each other....
(1988–1989; episode supervision) - Capricorn (1991; co-supervision of storyboard)
- Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust MemoryMobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memoryis a 13-episode anime OVA series set in the Gundam universe. The first volume containing two 30-minute episodes was released in Japan on May 23, 1991. Subsequent volumes, containing one 30-minute episode each, followed every one or two months; the final volume went on sale on September 24, 1992...
(1991; episode supervision) - Macross PlusMacross Plusis a four-episode anime OVA and theatrical movie in the Macross series. It was the first sequel to the original Macross television series that took place in the official timeline...
(1994; director) - The AnimatrixThe Animatrixis a 2003 direct-to-video anthology film based on The Matrix trilogy. The film is a compilation of nine animated short films.-Production:Development of the Animatrix project began when the film series' writers and directors, the Wachowski brothers, were in Japan promoting the first Matrix film...
(2003; episode direction)
Films
- Macross Plus: Movie EditionMacross Plusis a four-episode anime OVA and theatrical movie in the Macross series. It was the first sequel to the original Macross television series that took place in the official timeline...
(1995; director) - Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (2001; director)
- Mind GameMind Game (film)is a 2004 Japanese animated feature film based on Robin Nishi's Japanese comic of the same name. It was planned, produced and primarily animated by Studio 4°C and adapted and directed by Masaaki Yuasa, with chief animation direction and model sheets by Yūichirō Sueyoshi, art direction by Tōru...
(2004; music producer) - Genius PartyGenius PartyGenius Party is an anthology of short animated films from Studio 4°C released on July 7, 2007. The short films are Japanese anime.A sequel called Genius Party Beyond was released on February 15, 2008, and includes most of the films which were finished but not included in the original Genius...
(omnibus): Baby Blue (2008; director) - Cowboy Bebop (upcoming film; associate producer)
Use of music
Watanabe has a distinct vision regarding the importance of the film scoreFilm score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
of his works and believes that music is the universal language. Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop
is a critically acclaimed and award-winning 1998 Japanese anime series directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, written by Keiko Nobumoto, and produced by Sunrise. Its 26 episodes comprise a complete storyline: set in 2071, the series follows the adventures, misadventures and tragedies of five bounty...
is heavily influenced by American culture, especially the jazz movements of the 1940s, hence the title "bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
". This style is blended with a score by the prolific composer Yoko Kanno
Yoko Kanno
is a composer, arranger and musician best known for her work on the soundtracks for many games, anime films, TV series, live-action movies, and advertisements...
featuring jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
music. In Samurai Champloo
Samurai Champloo
is a Japanese anime series created and directed by Shinichirō Watanabe. It was broadcast in Japan from May 20, 2004 through March 19, 2005 on Fuji TV. Samurai Champloo has earned Watanabe a renowned title in the anime and Japanese television communities...
, an Edo
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
period piece
Period piece
-Setting:In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. This informal term covers all countries, all periods and all genres...
, the anachronistic soundtrack draws heavily from hip-hop music, and is full of melodic beats with record scratches
Scratching
Scratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the late 1980s, it has been used...
.